Trending Now

You are here

The love of a sister

RIDGWAY – Always sisters, now a part of each other. Maria Savino, sister of Frances DiIulio (aka Chickie), donated her kidney to save her sister’s life in April 2011. Savino was an absolute perfect match for her sister. In quoting Helen Keller, Savino says, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt with the heart.”DiIulio suffered from chronic kidney disease for nearly eight years without knowing it for most of those years. She traveled from doctor to doctor only to find out a similar diagnosis. As time continued, the doctors told DiIulio she had suffered from anemia and dehydration which resulted in inadequate blood levels and chronic fatigue. DiIulio continued on this path until she finally came upon a conclusive diagnosis. “In 2008 a doctor had discovered it,” DiIulio said. “He told me I had CKD in the fourth stage and needed to prepare myself for a kidney transplant a few years down the road. If it would have been identified earlier, a transplant could have been avoided.”This diagnosis was the shock of her life. The disease had been untreated for so long that DiIulio said it shriveled her kidneys next to nothing. “When the doctor checked them, he said they were so scarred,” said DiIulio. “He said it was impossible to identify the actual reason for the kidney failure.”Overwhelmed with helplessness, desperation and guilt, DiIulio began feeling as if her actions were a result to her situation. “The thought of did I take good enough care of myself plagued me,” said DiIulio. “The thought of asking some healthy person to sacrifice their kidney was not even an option to discuss.”Despite her unwillingness to ask for a kidney, many family and friends were more than willing to donate. “Knowing that a relative makes the best candidate for a donor, my two sons, six siblings, many relatives along with my husband and many close friends wanted to be tested,” she explained. “Though I was very appreciative and humbled by the requests, it just wasn’t an option for me.”Then DiIulio was taken by surprise. Before she announced any options to her sister, Savino had called to inform she was the donor. “She said there was nothing to discuss; it wasn’t something to think twice about or consider,” DiIulio said. “It was a done deal and she asked for the number to the hospital to set up tests.”The minute she found out a transplant would be in the future for DiIulio, Savino knew she would be the donor.